Aguas ancestrales
A. Navarro, P. P. Funari, João Costa Gouveia
Vestígios - Revista Latino-Americana de Arqueologia Histórica July 31, 2023 DOI: 10.31239/vtg.v17i2.41526 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that appliqués on ceramic vases from Formoso's stilt village, a 9th-10th century AD pre-colonial settlement in the Baixada Maranhense, encode cosmological information about bodily transformation or metamorphosis. Applying new materialities theory and anthropological ethnography to archaeology, the authors propose these motifs inform discussions of shamanism in the South American lowlands and suggest the Master of Animals, a supernatural entity metamorphosed by the shaman, may have been part of the cosmology of Maranhão's lake peoples. |
Abstract
This work aims to apply the theories of new materialities to the study of the material culture of the Formoso’s stilt village, a pre-colonial settlement from the 9th-10th centuries AD, located in the Baixada Maranhense. The appliqués of the ceramic vases at this archaeological site present several cosmological information regarding the transformation or metamorphosis of bodies, aspects that are fertile for the discussion of shamanism in the lowlands of South America, especially the Amazon. Classic concepts of Anthropological Ethnography applied to Archeology are used, contributing to the discussion on the diversity of ways to manufacture the body in the Amazon in its easternmost portion, such as that of the Master of Animals, a supernatural entity metamorphosed by the shaman and who could also have been part of the cosmology of the lake peoples of Maranhão, Brazil.